systeMY / systemUS - A Review

As promised earlier I will attempt to give you an over-view of the exhibition opening I attended on Friday evening. Friday was for me and, more importantly the artists and curator, the culmination of a week of on-site preparation and many months of personal work.

The exhibition is at Lodz Dom Kultury (Culture House) and more specifically Galeria Imaginarium on the ground floor of the building.

I am not a professional art critic and have no real idea how to write a review and thus I will attempt to give you a virtual tour of the exhibition and allow you to draw your own conclusions as to its effect.

Entering through the glass doors you can not help but notice the striking logo of the exhibition designed by the exhibition's curator Mariusz Sołtysik (PL). The bar code logo pertains to the automated process found as a central theme of the individual exhibits of SysteMY/stystemUS.

The first thing you will notice is three large flatscreens displaying three videos of Dmitry Strakovsky (USA) entitled "The Mall; The Wheel; The Departure." Filmed in a shopping centre, mountainous area and aircraft; these films have a strikingly spooky similarity from what are essentially three very different realms.

Keyword: communities by Travis Shaffer

 Opposite these films lie the work of Travis Shaffer (USA). The work, "Keyword: communities" the artist uses Google search to map community centres in the UK, USA, Manhattan and Kentucky. Next to these large scale maps are two small books entitled "34 Parking Lots in Los Angeles" and "Real Estate Opportunities/A 2010 International Investment Guide. Both books look at the distribution of resource with the second plotting the ten most indebted countries following the 2008 financial crash.

The next piece you notice as you walk through is a collection of photographs by US artist Talena Sanders. The photos depict the rich Mayan cultural history found in ethnic Guatemalan traditional dress and fabrics. Opposite these are two vidoes and accompanying pieces by Ela Wysakowska-Walters called "Pocket Dictator" which was reviewed by me here.

On the same side of the room is a vidoe by Karolina Głusiec entitled "Perfornance 2011." The work is an animated film bringing to life the structure and sound of a pianola. The video becomes hypnotic in its simple beauty.

Wall 38 by e.w.walters

Opposite this film are two somewhat complimentary pieces. The first by Ela Wysakowska-Walters is an interactive sculpture called "Wall 38". The visitor must plug a headphone jack into one of 38 sockets and then construct their own experience based on the "indefinite references" they hear, continuing onto other sockets as and when they wish. Next to this lies a sculpture by Anna Macleod called "Polar Tension". The piece uses magnets to construct a seemingly impossible arrangement of metal sheets and strings.

Access all Areas by Anna Macleod

Macleod's work has the honour of holding the last position of the room in the form of "Access All Areas. Water Optics" which uses similar optical illusions to bring attention to the disproportionate use of water in the world.

The Erotic life of XAU by Dmitry Strakovsky

 Last but by no means least, Strakovsky's work returns in a second room shield by large black curtains. "The Erotic Life of XAU" looks at the position of aesthetics in the world through an analysis of the artificial position of gold within the world economy.

As promised this was a virtual tour of the exhibition. Intentionally i have not gone into huge detail as I do not wish to spoil the effect. I therefore simply recommend going to the exhibition in Lodz (ul. Traugutta 18) which is open until 2nd July 2011.